Mine
by CeceVolume
Summary: Mixture of book Damon and TV Damon. AU. If she had known what was awaiting her that day, she would have run.  She would have locked herself away forever to protect herself from him.


_After reading the books again, I couldn't resist. Enjoy!_

_Side note: where Trust Breeds Trust has quotes from the show, these will be book quotes. That Damon is more of the type that I'd like to portray here._

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Vampire Diaries.

Mine

"_I don't need to convince you that you belong to me. I can take you."_

It had been a normal day for me. I'd just spent the afternoon writing in my journal at the cemetery. Wasn't that how my days always went? Especially during summer, I remember. I could ignore those small twinges of fear that came with my surroundings most days. But that day...if I had known what was watching me, I would have run. I would have run and I would have locked myself away from the world for the rest of my life, if that was what it took.

But I didn't. And, now, I pay the price.

For eternity.

_Years before..._

_I miss Mom and Dad,_ Elena Gilbert wrote, barely able to contain her tears. _I miss them so much more every day. How am I supposed to pretend that everything's all right tomorrow when school starts? I'm sick of their pity, but can I really move on from the accident?_

The hair on the back of her neck stood up again, but she ignored it. Who didn't get strange feelings in the middle of a graveyard? And she had spent more than enough time there to know that ignoring it was her best option.

As a chilly wind blew through her hair, Elena tried to think of how she could write what she was feeling. _I'm the only survivor from that accident. My parents died, but somehow I was thrown from the car. How was I thrown onto the bank of the river when I should have been thrown through the windshield and to the bottom? It doesn't make sense that I am alive and they aren't._

Wiping the sleeve of her jacket across her eyes, she gingerly closed the leather-bound book. That was enough dwelling on that for one day. She needed to think about something else. Anything else, really.

Staring out to the setting sky, she noticed a shadow out of the corner of her eye. She turned quickly to look at it, finding only a crow sitting there, watching her from atop a tombstone. It cawed menacingly as if to tell her to run, flapping its wings at her angrily. Its coloring was strange, though. There was a sheen to its feathers that made the black almost entrancing. Those beady eyes focused on her too intently for it to be a normal bird, of that she was sure. Why would a crow be glaring at a seventeen-year-old girl, anyway? It wasn't as if she could be its next meal.

Not unless she was dead, at least.

Elena stood quickly, deciding it was time to chance meeting someone she didn't want to see on the ride home rather than staying in the cemetery with a malicious bird of prey. Maybe she would take the back way home; she would cut through less of town that way.

And then she would know if someone was following her, too, which she got the feeling someone was.

Leaves crunched beneath her feet, echoing through the stinging air. When had it become so cold? She pulled the edges of her jacket tighter around her, glancing over her shoulder fearfully. Her eyes immediately caught the crow's again, intelligence flashing in those black depths. Something wasn't right about that bird, she was absolutely sure.

Suddenly, the bird flew away in the opposite direction. She startled, but turned back on her path, stumbling slightly over a tree root. Righting herself, she continued at a quickened pace until she hit the back roads.

There, she was sure, she would be safe. She was close enough to houses that they would hear if she cried out, but not for them to see her unnecessarily.

Crunching leaves behind her snapped the sense of relief out of her body, bringing back the fear that had forced her from her personal—if morbid—sanctuary. She spun around on her heel, ready to confront whoever might be following her. She would fight in any way she thought necessary. She was ready.

Only no one was there. She was alone on the road. But if she looked really hard at the path she had taken, there was a second set of footsteps in the leaves. Or was she just looking for signs of someone else? What was making her so paranoid? There was no reason for someone to be following her. They were in a small town, not a big city. Everyone that would know the town well enough to follow her secretly would also be instantly recognizable.

"If you're following me," she started, deciding to be safe rather than sorry, "it's not funny. Just leave me alone." With that, she went back to walking her path, making her way back to the house she'd grown up in, had lived in all her life. If she was safe anywhere, it was within those walls.

Taking a deep breath, she pulled herself together. _There is nothing to be afraid of,_ she told herself. _You are hallucinating. That sound behind you, rustling the leaves? It's just the wind. Isn't it always the wind?_

A horn sounded and Elena nearly jumped out of her skin. When she turned around, her wide, frightened eyes met a familiar car. Bonnie and Caroline were waving at her, sticking their heads out of the side windows. Elena had never been so happy to see them in her life.

"Elena, are you going home? We can take you there!" Caroline called, motioning for the brunette to come to the car. She flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder, smiling brightly. "I have so much to tell you about this summer! You have _no_ idea!"

Bonnie grinned, as well, pleading, "Yeah, hop in, _please_. Save me from the torture of listening to her all by myself!" She laughed when Caroline moved back inside to punch her on the arm. "It's not _my_ fault you sent your entire summer doing the nasty with guys all across France," she said, directing it at the blonde.

"I did not 'do the nasty' with all of them! Just two," Caroline objected, still smirking.

A small smile played on Elena's lips and she went to the back passenger door, sliding into the familiar car. She hoped that her friends didn't notice her paranoid behavior, that they would just play it off as a girl who was sitting by her parents' graves for far too long. "I can't believe you actually went to France," she said conversationally. Even with her seatbelt, she leaned forward to be more in the group. "What was it like being in the capital of romance?"

As they drove away, Elena eagerly listening to Caroline's tales of her days in Europe, none of them noticed the dark figure watching as they drove, disappearing in a fog as the girls made their way towards the Gilbert house.

"_Interesting things happen in the dark...sometimes."_

Elena spent that night in terror. She could feel something watching her through the window of her room—impossible, since she was on the second floor. But she couldn't shake the feeling, couldn't stop thinking about how nerve-wracking her entire day had been.

After ducking quickly inside her house—"I'll see you guys tomorrow!" she'd told her friends—she'd found herself alone, a simple note from Jenna to explain that she was at the grocery store, she would be back with dinner. Jeremy had taken off again, but Elena had known he would. He didn't like to spend much time at the house anymore, least of all with her. She couldn't help feeling that he blamed her for their parents' deaths.

And from then on the night had only gone downhill.

A scratching at the front door while she was in the living room had ended with a crow—another damn crow—watching her from the porch's railing. She didn't wave it away, however; that would require going outside. Some voice in the back of her mind warned her to stay in the house, where she would be safe.

At eight o'clock—Jenna and Jeremy still weren't home—Elena went up to her bedroom, getting ready for bed. After she'd brushed her teeth and washed her face, she'd slipped into her favorite sweatpants and T-shirt, ready to get cozy in her bed and try to fight away any nightmares that might stem from the happenings of the day.

Almost an hour later, as she read her favorite book, the feeling of being watched became overwhelming. She'd left her curtains open so moonlight could streak in, but the window was closed. She didn't need the extra coolness, anyways.

When she turned to look out the window, though, her heart nearly stopped. Somehow, she couldn't scream, couldn't make a sound to warn anyone that might have snuck in without her knowing—Jeremy, namely—that there was something wrong. She found herself unable to move, petrified by the eyes staring in at her.

A man was actually standing _at her window_, smirking at her as he raised a finger to motion for her to come to him. Did he actually think that would work? That she would go to the window and let him in?

But she couldn't stop herself from rising, opening the window and staring at him in shock.

His hair was as dark as the sky behind him, shining in the moonlight. The pallor of his skin shocked her, almost as much as the electric blue eyes. She sucked in a deep breath when his husky voice murmured, "Let me in, Elena."

Somehow, she found the power to shake her head. "I...I don't know you," she responded, backing away until she was out of reach Her stomach twisted as his face changed, heavy veins showing beneath eyes that were momentarily red. What...what _was_ he?

Quickly righting himself, he said, "Then come with me. Out here."

The roof just beneath her window was too small for both of them to stand on, she knew, without dropping one or both of them to the ground and, quite possibly, their deaths. _Am I really considering this?_ Elena asked herself just before her shaking voice spoke for her. "I...I can meet you out front. Just...give me a second." With that, she backed farther away from the window, keeping her eyes locked on him. She was still trying to figure out how he had managed to sit just in front of her window without falling.

He smirked at her. "Don't keep me waiting." With that, he disappeared, though she swore that she heard him hit the ground.

Her heart stopped. Had he just...just _killed_ himself outside her window?

But she couldn't make her feet carry her there to check what state he was in. Instead, she walked slowly down the stairs and to the front door. When she flung it open, he stood there, completely unharmed. As if falling from the second floor of a house were something he did on a regular basis.

"Come," he said, motioning once more for her to walk outside.

Something inside her made her. It was like she couldn't disobey him, no matter how stupid she knew it was to do as he told her. He flashed her bright white teeth when she stepped over the threshold, stopping just in front of him. "Beautiful Elena Gilbert," he spoke, softly. His hand reached up to gently run the backs of his fingers over her cheekbone. "I was wondering when you would finally answer my call. I haven't thought of anything other than you in so long."

She merely blinked her eyes at him. "Have you been...watching me? Are you the one that was following me in the cemetery?"

He chuckled lightly. "How perfect for a queen of the shadows to spend all of her free time in a graveyard. You really do follow cliches, don't you, Elena?"

When she started to flinch away from him, he took her chin between two fingers, trapping her. "Are you afraid of me?" He thought about that for a moment. "You probably should be. Especially if you have no intention of doing as you're told. But if you're good to me," he said quietly, "I'll be _very_ good to you."

She tried to shake her head, her voice catching in her throat. "I...I don't kn-know you! What do you w-want from me?" His grip on her face was too strong; though panic ran through her, she couldn't pull away. She was so close to the safety her home provided, but unable to reach it. She reached, in vain, behind her, trying to grab hold of the doorframe as this man's almost peaceful expression turned suddenly violent. "Please, just...just get away from me!"

Fury spread across his features. "Get away from you? Oh, woman, you're very funny. I have no intention of leaving you for the rest of eternity! And I don't need your compliance; I can just _control _you!"

His face contorted again, only now he opened his mouth, revealing lethal looking fangs. As she gasped and struggled anew, he dipped his head to her neck, piercing her skin. He groaned when her blood met his tongue, even though Elena still tried to fight him. But she was no match for his superior strength. She was stuck there with a man she had never met draining her of her blood, dizziness taking control of her.

After a few long moments, he pulled away gently, his gaze meeting hers as she swayed on her feet. The sight of her blood on his mouth terrified her, but she didn't have the power to run away. She could do nothing but stare up at eyes that were fading back to their original blue, hoping that she would wake up from the nightmare soon.

"Sleep, Elena. We're leaving here—now."

"_Winter is coming, Elena. An unforgiving season. Before it comes, you'll have learned what I can and can't do. Before winter is here, you'll have joined me. You'll be mine."_

Elena awoke some time later but didn't open her eyes. She didn't want to risk that her dream had come true, that she was really stuck with the man who had taken her _blood_.

Nothing about her surroundings was right; she knew that even without her sight. The blanket she laid on was too soft, there were too many pillows underneath her head. Through her closed lids, she sensed light shining on her from the left when, in the morning, the sunlight couldn't stream through the window at all. Her window was on the west side of the house. No natural light in the morning.

The sounds and smells of the house were all wrong, as well. The house didn't creak against the breeze outside, nor did the doors squeak against the pressure of the gust of wind that came through the window. She could smell the old oak of the bedframe, the soft floral scent of the sheets around her. It made her want to sink into them and forget. Forget all about the man that had taken her blood and could possibly take her life.

"I know you're awake."

His voice was a shock to her system, making her flinch. She clenched her eyes shut tighter, wishing with all she had that she could simply die right there. Die and be done with this man.

Because she'd dreamed of him telling her that he would never let her go. He would follow her forever if she ran; she was his. Nothing and no one could protect her from the fate that he had given her, that he had chosen for her. The moment he'd seen her, her fate had been sealed. Airtight and inescapable.

A sudden weight was beside her on the bed. "Don't tempt me to open those brown eyes of yours, Elena. I won't play nice," he warned, amusement apparent in his tone. He was playing with her, treating her like a toy. She wished even more fervently that she would simply waste away in mere moments, leaving him to fulfill whatever he was looking for using someone else.

He'd called her a queen of shadows the night before. _His_ queen of shadows.

Realization dawned on her. He wanted someone to share eternity with, someone that shared his curse. Even if she didn't want to, he was planning to make her a vampire.

But how would he go about doing that?

"Elena, I'm going to give you until the count of three to open your eyes and look at me when I'm speaking to you. One," he said slowly, mockingly.

She had no choice. She would have to act as if she would surrender.

"Two."

Forcing all her courage to the surface, fearing that she would see that distorted version of his face once again, she opened her eyes, hoping she looked as docile as she needed to be. As if she accepted her fate. As if she were willing to do what he wanted.

He smirked at her. "Good job," he congratulated, leaning his face closer to her. She moved her head back, making sure to let her fear be known. "No need to be so scared of me. Last night was...an anomaly. I wouldn't usually just...grab you like that. But it'd been a long time since I'd had something that delectable." His grin was all bright, shining teeth.

"I..." Elena cleared her throat, trying to make her voice stronger. "I don't even know who you are," she finally murmured, watching those canines that had pierced her neck the night before. Her hand crept up to her neck, feeling the two entry points tenderly. They didn't hurt, but they weren't particularly fashionable. How could she hide this kind of thing from her friends and family?

_Someone has to know that I'm missing. They have to be looking for me. If I can get away from him, I'll be safe. The town will protect me._

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I suppose you don't remember everything I told you last night," he noted dryly before sighing and standing. Putting his hand to his chest, he looked more annoyed than anything else, as if he were telling her something he'd already said multiple times. "I am Damon Salvatore. And I plan to keep you." A fierce light burned in his eyes, as if he would fight to the death to make that last sentence true.

_Damon_ held his hand out to her and, for whatever reason, she took it. Elena allowed him to bring her to her feet, watching him with wide eyes. She couldn't be sure what he was going to do to her right that second, but in the next moment, she knew that she wasn't going to like it.

His face distorted once again as one hand went to take hold of the back of her neck while the other raised to his mouth. Her mouth fell open, ready to scream, but he moved lightning fast. Suddenly, her mouth was filled with the metallic taste of blood—_his _blood, rolling down her throat—and she realized that he wasn't about to wait to make sure that she was stuck with him. For eternity.

No, he was taking care of that right away.

After she struggled for several moments against his hold, Damon finally released her, a crazed light in his eyes. She stared at him in horror, wanting to back away from him. But something inside her _liked_ the blood, actually _liked _the taste. A darkness she had never felt stirred within her.

His hands took hold of either side of her face. "When you wake up, I'll have your first meal for you."

When she woke up? Why was she going to sleep? Was that part of the process?

Then, without warning, his hands twisted her head, snapping her neck quickly, efficiently. She fell to the ground, dead, her face frozen in the look of horror it had become when she'd seen him killing her in slow motion.

Elena awoke, however, just an hour later. She was nestled in the bed, a new weight on her chest. And a strong urge to drink in her mind.

She could smell something delicious. She could hear a wet thumping sound as everything within her went on alert. She thirsted, her body demanding a new form of sustenance. Something liquid and warm, able to fill up her body with that same sense of warmth and relief.

Her eyes flew open and she sat up in bed, dizzy when she took in her surroundings. Everything was so...clear. It was as if she had had a curtain over her vision before. Now, she was seeing everything crystal clear.

Her hearing had improved, as well. She had been deaf before, she realized, as she heard the leaves rustling in the wind, falling to the ground and shattering like glass. And there was that wet thump sounding again, faster and faster as her eyes took in the entire room.

Her brown gaze fell on a boy standing in the doorway of this strange bedroom. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she noted that she had seen him around school. He was even in one of her classes. But she still couldn't control the sudden hunger within her, the hunger to take his life. Even with Damon—her personal demon—standing just behind the boy, she couldn't take her eyes off the pulse at his neck. It called to her, demanding that she _kill him_.

She shook her head at the thought, abruptly finding herself as far across the room from him as she was capable of being. "Oh my God," she breathed, nearly choking on the smell of the boy's fear. "What...what's wrong with me?" Self-disgust ripped through her as the image of herself ripping his throat gave her a shiver of need.

Damon smirked at her. "You're transitioning, Elena," he explained softly, though there was a definite note of anticipation in his voice. "You'll take his blood and become the real thing."

"I...I don't _want_ to take his blood! I _know_ him!" she cried.

The vampire's eyes narrowed. Anger contorted his face into the devilish mask it had been before. "You would rather die?" he demanded, yanking the boy towards him, fangs shooting longer. "Like hell I'll let that happen." With that, he bit into the boys neck, tearing it apart so the blood flowed freely as the poor teenager crumpled to the ground, dead before he hit it. "Try to resist that draw," he snarled, eyes flashing dangerously. "Try to control the urge to drink."

Before she knew what she was doing, she was crouching in front of the boy, hissing at the coppery taste of blood already dwelling in her mouth. _I want it_, she thought as she felt her face changing. _I want to drink it._

Her humanity ordered her to stop, to ignore the urges. She should be more willing to die than to take the blood that Damon had spilled. And from an innocent _boy_. But she couldn't stop herself from inhaling the scent and sinking her brand new fangs into the boys severed neck.

She felt a new strength swelling within her muscles, as well as her mind. Suddenly, she wasn't afraid. It was as if a switch had gone off within her. She didn't fear Damon Salvatore or what he could do to her.

In fact, she was going to give him some real pain.

With a near inaudible hiss, Elena stood, whirling on Damon, her hand flying out. Using her fingers as talons, she dug them into his eyes, perverse pleasure rocketing through her at his snarl of pain. She knew she couldn't attack him again, no matter how desperately she wanted to. No, she would run as he clutched his eyes, unable to follow after her.

The weight of a new necklace around her neck, Elena fled into the daylight, feeling a protective barrier stemming from said necklace. A voice in her mind whispered, _It will protect you from the sun,_ as she ran as fast as she could, covering miles in minutes. So she did.

And she didn't dare look back.

"_I'm going to have you in the end, you know."_

Nearly a century has passed since then. Now, I spend my time fleeing from a man I'll never really be able to escape. Though I've grown much stronger, so has he. He attacked my family the day that I ran from him. Jenna and Jeremy weren't allowed to live, I know. Luckily, with vampirism comes an ability to shut off emotions. Still, I hear their cries of pain in my dreams. They haunt me when I cannot stop them.

Damon has chased me across the world. I have learned to wield my new powers on my own, compelled my way past the strictest of guards.

And, wherever I've gone, he's destroyed anyone that would help me.

I have met no one that can defeat him, that is more powerful than him. In fact, I've rarely met vampires much older than myself. They seem to die off in the first few years, either from suicide or by tipping off the human population.

I've grown weary of living. I want nothing more than to die. I've never felt such desperation in my life.

But still I hunt. Still I keep on that protective necklace that he had given me, charmed by a witch to never break as well as keep me safe from the sun's rays. I am stuck in the life that he forced on me.

And, someday, I fear I will grow tired of running. Or he will catch up.

Every time he has almost caught me, a tiny voice in my mind has whispered, _You are _mine_, Elena Gilbert. I will search the world over for you if that's what it takes._

And I believe him.


End file.
